Setback means for pumping units



Dec. 14, 1948. w. PATTERSON SETBACK MEANS FOR PUMPING UNITS Filed June 30, 1947 2 Shee`ts-Sheet lv IN V EN TOR.

Dec. 14, 1948. E, w PATTERSON I 2,456,531

SETBACK MEANS FOR PUMPING UNITS Filed June 30, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 l/ WMU@ IN VEN TOR.

depicted in my Ipatent above referred to. y

ever such pivotal assembly hasbeenoperated `forA Patented Dec. 14, 1948 UNITED y 1S T A7l`f--IE1Sl :P5 f-GFFICE YESEIBAL'BK" MEANS FOR PUMP-ING 'UNITS JEdgar W. Patterson; Dmamey,Calif.

, Applioationiune `30, 1947, Serial No. 758,130

This inventionrela'tes .to ,pumping `units such as the air balanced,oilpumpshowninmy United States Patent No..2,l69`,815.and includes among its objects provision of improved means .for temporarily displacing the head of a pumping unit from its operating position immediately vover the mouth of a well.

ln prior constructions, such as, above Hreferred to, a vertically 'oscillatingfpump arm, or rocking beam is pivotally mounted at 'one end thereof so as to suspend lrromlits other -end theline of a sucker rod suspended Ainthe mouth of `the vWell directly below, the lmovement of the -rockingbeam being caused by a vertical ldrivev arm attached between its ends, and the 'whole unit, including. vair compressor, reservoin'balance 'chamber 4|and motor, being .mounted on a generally horizon'tal base to which are attached yupright bracing members supporting the rocking beam.

It is necessary from time to time to have access to the well E'for :other than the pumping operations, as, 'lier example, when pulling the pump or removing `the tubing.

Accordingly -it `is necessary to move aside, lby one way or another, theoverhanging lend of 'the rocking -beam lto -allow clearance lfor the ltravelling' block, hookfand elevators.

This -is Xdone lby :removing Ithe horsehead or swiiziging -it backen the'fbeam or `to' the side, or back from `the wellbore, or by rolling the Ipumping unit away. Accordingly rprovision for pivotall;7 mounting lthe upright ysupports soV asfto thereby swing Ito-one side the rocking beamwa-s Howmany years 'by a ygango'f -men who upon freeing the ylocking Velement-s, obtained the necessa-y leverage yto -move' the assembly by vthe usef-of crow bars, applied alongI the F'edge Lof the base adjacent the )well mouth. Oneldrawback to such operations has been the lpresence "of the compressed air in the lum'twhich at such'time may unexpectedly release and cause damage.

By the present invention there is now provided easy operating means whereby the'upright supporting structure may be progressively swung back in constantly controlled .manner and with seli.braking means provided throughout the whole cycle ofoperation.

It is an object of the nventionjthus tov provide an arrangement -of parts -whereby such a pumping unit may have its walking beam and horsehead tilted back from the Well mouth a controlled amount and with increased safety vand operating facility fortheworkman.

Other objects and'advantagesv of the invention will be apparent from the following description and claim, the novelty consisting in the features of construction, combination of parts, the unique relations of the members and relai2 tiv.eproportioning, disposition, and :operation thereof, A-all .as more .completely .outlined lherein 'i-andgfparticularly ,pointed .out Ain the appended claim.

nxtheidrawinga which -form part of the present specification:

Figuren is 1.a side elevational View lof a well Vpmnping'iunit:embodying 'my invention shown located lin;operatinggposition in relation to the :mouth @of =.a-well`;.

Fig. Zuis a'zsimilar viewwith parts. removed '1f-or :greater clarity-and particularly showing the `.pump lnead `in.('iisp1aced .or retracted position in relation Eto lthe fmouth of .the Well;

llt-ig. 3 is an end elevational view of the well pumping :untas `seen :from the left of Figure 1,

.partly insection;

fFig. 4 :isxan enlarged fragmentary side eleva- -tionalz view of the 'base .of "the lunit :particularly @portion Vwhich vembodies `my the line- -S of lFigure 4; 4and membersfil disposed 'onopposite .sides thereof.

The individual members v22 are joined together .by suitable vbracing, to form a vertically mounted `'Samson post 2li and .a pair of angular struts or supports 26, .the latter .having :their ends secured respectively tothe top of :the upright -24 and .adjacent .the `l'iorizontal Abase 2d, being affixed Aat `the latter point fto `verticai-llrackets 128. The lower end of the Samson post 24 is in turn attached to a pair of, mounting shoes im of the ibase by means of ra :horizontal pin 32.

The conventional, generally .horizontal walking-:beamed ris ipivotallyxsecuredfat fone end to 'the ftop y'of the .Samson post 121i by means of a fulcrumshaft'and carries at its oppositeend .a :hcrseheadt over 'whichvthe reins de of a 'rpump polish :rod Lareiledlinto across-bar dl to lwhichithe Lpolish rod /43 is attached. The base iof "the rvunit fis located adjacent the well headin `suchvmanner that "the horse'head will be Ilocated 'directly thereabove in the conventional manner.

An vair -reservoirtank d2 `is 'located adi acent the 'Samson post land mounted on the base 2t. Rotatablyjournalledin'the conventional` gear box d is a 'low speeddrivesha'ft 'd'6 tothe 'ends of which 'is keyed a'pair of crankarms 48, one on each. side of the gear box. The shaft 46 is operatively connected to a power unit by suitable driving means not shown in detail.

disposed hollow piston rod 56, which is pivotallymounted at its base. |The upper end of the hollow piston rod communicates with the cylinder 56 and the lower end of the hollow rod 56 communicates with the air reservoir ft2 through the pivotal base 53 and air line 66.

A pair of vertically swinging pitman rods 62 is pivotally secured to the cross-head 52 at its upper end and attached by a terminal crank pin bearing housing 64 to the crank arm 48 by means of a horizontal crank pin 66 mounted in crank arm 48.

Flxedly secured to the base adjacent the air reservoir by means of a footing member 68 is an upright compressor unit 'l0 having slidably extending from its upper end a piston rod 'i2 connected to a vertically disposed pair of pitman rods it through a cross-head 76, the upper ends of the pitman rods being provided in turn with horizontal trunnions I8 transversely disposed in a dependent bracket 80 of the walking beam.

Journalled jointly in the upright brackets v28 and 28-A is a horizontal shaft 96 bearing on each end, beyond the brackets, a vertically swinging crank arm 62 and 66, each arm having fixed to its free end an outwardly projecting pivot pin 96 and 68 respectively inserted transversely through the adjacent angular braces 26 and 2-A. The lower ends of the braces are each provided with a transverse aperture paraliel to the pivot apertures longitudinally displaced along the struts thereabove and extending through a common reinforcing block ll and m6 disposed in the aperture formed in the angular strut. When the pump head is in operating posi- .3;

tion the yapertures l and E62 are disposed in alignment with corresponding openings in the adjacent brackets 28 and ZB--A so as to have inserted jointly therethrough a locking bolt 08 and H6 having a nut H2 and H4 respectively threadedly mounted on one end. Adjacent the inner face of one bracket (2S- A) the shaft 96 has Xed thereto a radially extending worm wheel il@ operatively engaged by a horizontal worm gear HS which is journalled in a pair of transversly extending, parallel mounting ears |20 and 22. The outwardly projecting axle lZfl of the worm gear in turn is adapted to be engaged hg the coupling socket I26 of an operating crank Accordingly, when it is desired to tilt back the horsehead 38, the two lock bolts l and lill are` first removed and the operating crank |28 is then rotated to move the worm wheel l i6 which by its rotation turns jointly the two crank arms 92 and 66 so as to travel slowly through an arc of 180 degrees and thereby throw back the triangular frame 22 from the position illustrated in Figure 1 to that shown in Figure 2. It is to be noted that during the entire operation, the engagedworm H8 and gear H6 are in self-locking position so as to be moved only by the force positively applied to the operating crank. Accordingly the crank may be released at any intermediate position and the frame 22 will remain in this locaiilll-i 02 tion until subsequently moved in eitherdirection 7 by the crank. This is of particular importance in 4 view of possible accidental venting of compressed air remaining in the unit as previously noted.

When it is again desired to bring forward the operating head of the pump, the movement of the crank |28 is accordingly reversed. A signiiicant advantage by this construction is that when thus dropping the frame to its resting position, engagement of the gear H8 and wheel H6 control or break the throw so that the struts 26 are retracted gradually, thereby preventing shock and strain to the assembly which would be occasioned by their suddenly slamming down. Subsequent replacement of the lock bolts 168 and lill results l in a quickly effected strengthening of the frame f structures to producea reinforced rigidity essential for prolonged operation.

Itshould be noted vadditionally that the presentassembly may "be'retracted or retrieved entirely through the medium of the effort of a single workman on the operating crank |218, in marked contrast to the prior construction. This is in addition to the great advantage of increased safety and uniform controllability of the unit at any position in the arc of travel.

While I have shown and described in some detail a presently preferred embodiment of my pump tilting mechanism it is to be understood that various modications may be made in the construction andoperation thereof within the spirit an-d sco-pe ofthe subsequently claimed invention which is to be construed broadly and limited only by the prior art.

I claim:

In a well pumping unit including a base, a post pivoted at itslower end to said base and extending upwardly therefrom, a walking beam pivotally secured to the upper end of said post with one end arranged to extend over a well to be pumped, a strut connected at its upper end lto said post, and releasable means for positively securing the upper end of saidpost against pivotal movement relative to said baseduring pumping operation of said unit: the improvement which comprises a horizontal `shaft rotatably mounted transversely of said base,v a crank arm secured to said shaft with the outer end of said crank arm pivotally secured to the lower end of said strut, a worm wheel secured to said shaft, a self locking worm gear rotatably mounted on said base for meshing engagement with said worm wheel, and means for rotating said worm gear to rotate said shaft and crank arm to causesaid strut to pivot said post relativeA to said base; to selectively position said end of said walking beam over a well or to retract such end from over the well without movement of said base, said worm gear being operative to lock said worm wheel, shaft, crank arm, strut and post against movement from any position of adjustment thereof. l

' t .t EDGAR PATTERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED- STATESv PATENTS 2,194,066 caidweu v v Mar. 19, 1940 

